Trump sidesteps primary fights with history of double endorsements
The article discusses former President Donald Trump’s strategy of endorsing multiple candidates in various Republican primaries, which allows him to maintain a presence in the political landscape without fully committing to one candidate. Recent examples include his dual endorsements for Arizona’s gubernatorial race, backing both Rep. Andy Biggs and Karrin Taylor robson, which stemmed from concerns among Trump loyalists about Robson’s connections to the political establishment.
This practice of issuing multiple endorsements has been a recurring theme in Trump’s approach to primaries, were he has often supported multiple candidates in contentious races, as seen in his endorsements in Arizona’s 8th Congressional district and Washington’s 4th Congressional District. Despite some losses, Trump’s endorsements have largely been triumphant, achieving a high rate of success in previous election cycles.
While Trump’s support does not guarantee a candidate’s victory, his endorsements considerably impact their chances. The article highlights the balancing act Trump performs to keep his endorsement influence while navigating the complexities within the Republican Party, especially post-Jan. 6 events.
Trump sidesteps primary fights with long history of double endorsements
President Donald Trump is leaving the MAGA lane open in yet another Republican primary with his long-running habit of endorsing multiple candidates in a single race.
This week, Trump endorsed Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) for governor of Arizona after endorsing Republican Karrin Taylor Robson in December 2024. The awkward double endorsement followed complaints from Trump loyalists that Robson was too cozy with the business establishment, compared with Biggs’s willingness to embrace Trump on the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and other political flashpoints.
Monday was hardly the first time, however, that Trump has tried to stay neutral in Republican primaries. He has repeatedly offered double or even triple endorsements in the same race, a strategy that has helped his endorsement record.
Last year, Trump endorsed Republican candidates Abraham Hamadeh and Blake Masters in the primary for Arizona’s 8th Congressional District. Despite the bitter rivalry between the two men, Trump claimed on Truth Social that they were “two spectacular America First Candidates.”
“THEY WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!” Trump added after touting their resumes.
Hamadeh prevailed over Masters for the GOP nomination before defeating Democratic candidate Gregory Whitten in the general election.
Trump again endorsed two candidates in Washington’s 4th Congressional District race, backing Republicans Tiffany Smiley and Jerrod Sessler in an attempt to unseat Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA), who voted to impeach Trump in 2021 after Jan. 6.
“They are both running against a weak and pathetic RINO, Dan Newhouse, who stupidly voted to impeach me for absolutely no reason, and he now strongly wishes he didn’t make that Decision,” Trump wrote on social media.
Sessler won the blanket primary but lost the general election against Newhouse.
Trump also endorsed then-Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, then-Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, and then-state Sen. Bill Eigel in the 2024 Missouri GOP gubernatorial primary.
“All have had excellent careers, and have been with me from the beginning,” Trump wrote on social media. “They are MAGA and America First all the way!”
Kehoe won the GOP primary before defeating Democrat Crystal Quade, then the minority leader in the state House of Representatives.
That same election cycle, Trump endorsed state Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Will Scharf in the Republican primary for Missouri attorney general.
“Missouri has two Highly Respected Candidates running for the important Office of Attorney General, your current A.G., Andrew Bailey, and one of my very talented lawyers in private life, Will Scharf,” Trump said in his announcement at the time.
Bailey defeated Scharf in the primary and won the general election after defeating Democrat Elad Gross, allowing him to serve another term as attorney general.
The president also endorsed two candidates in Missouri’s GOP lieutenant governor primary.
In endorsing then-state Sen. Holly Thompson Rehder and David Wasinger, Trump described them as “two highly respected America First patriots.”
Wasinger won the GOP primary and the general election after defeating Democrat Richard Brown.
Ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Trump issued perhaps his most notorious endorsement of “Eric” in the Missouri Senate race. It was a confusing gesture as three GOP candidates, former state Attorney General Eric Schmitt, former Gov. Eric Greitens, and long shot Eric McElroy, were in the running.
“I trust the Great People of Missouri, on this one, to make up their own minds, much as they did when they gave me landslide victories in the 2016 and 2020 Elections, and I am therefore proud to announce that ERIC has my Complete and Total Endorsement!” Trump wrote at the time.
He did not clarify which Eric he was backing, although both Greitens and Schmitt claimed the endorsement for their candidacy.
Schmitt emerged victorious from the primary and won the Senate seat after defeating Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine in the general election.
In another unusual twist during the 2018 cycle, Trump urged voters not to back Republican Don Blankenship in the GOP primary for West Virginia’s Senate race.
“To the great people of West Virginia we have, together, a really great chance to keep making a big difference,” Trump posted on X. “Problem is, Don Blankenship, currently running for Senate, can’t win the General Election in your State…No way! Remember Alabama. Vote Rep. Jenkins or A.G. Morrisey!”
Then-state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey won the primary but lost to then-Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV). Morrisey is now the governor of West Virginia after winning the race during the 2024 elections.
Trump’s past endorsement track record has been largely successful. In the 2020 cycle, 98% of the 113 Senate, House, and governor candidates he endorsed either won primaries or moved on to general elections, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.
However, much of that success is attributed to endorsing candidates who were likely to win. Even among his nonincumbent endorsements in contested primaries, 24 out of 25 won primaries or advanced to general elections, giving Trump a 96% success rate.
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In the 2022 cycle, 181 out of the 190 Senate, House, and governor candidates whom Trump supported won their primaries or advanced to the general elections, giving the president a 95% success rate. But for nonincumbent candidates in contested primaries endorsed by Trump, his track record drops to 82%, with 37 out of 45 candidates winning primaries or moving on to general elections.
In the 2024 cycle, Trump backed 199 candidates for Senate, House, and governor races at the time of the FiveThirtyEight analysis, with 96% winning primaries or moving on to general elections. Just eight of his candidates lost. But when it came to nonincumbent candidates in contested primaries, only 37 of the 45 candidates won their primaries or advanced to general elections, a repeat of the 2022 cycle.
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